RE: Central Park MUSHROOM HUNT with Gary Lincoff - YES, you can EAT 'em too, if you DARE...!
So cool! This makes me really want to rejoin the NYC Mycological Society - I regretted never being able to go on a hunt with Gary.
Even having developed a decent amount of knowledge regarding macro-identification - and a good working knowledge of a dozen or so choice edibles - I still feel inherently uncomfortable eating my finds - even when I am 99.9% sure of their identity. Hell, even when I would go on Facebook and Gary or other NYCMS members would confirm my ID.
But, when you're hunting with an actual expert - whether a general expert mycologist like Gary, or a local "expert" who has spent their lives in a local region and knows their local edibles like the back of their hand, the experience of foraging and eating your catch is WONDERFUL.
I've only done the latter a couple of times, once in the forests an hour outside St. Petersburg where my wife, her uncle and I traipsed through the coniferous forest like druids plucking the most perfect chanterelles from every nook and cranny while testing every bolete for possible edulis. Then just diving in and eating a big meal of fresh mushrooms without concern.
I highly recommend going for a hunt with someone you know you can trust.
I didn't want to get into it too deeply into the post, because it's already probably a bit overwhelming! I figure I can defer to some of your great posts for even more details about each individual mushroom and genus. But what's interesting is that there are certain types of mushrooms that are relatively easy to identify, such as the Chicken of the Woods and black-staining polypore, that really don't have any "copycats" (I'm just blanking on the better term) like with the death caps that you recently posted about. So yeah, definitely stay away from any of those white cap mushrooms. Supposedly, even the "good" ones aren't as tasty as other types of mushrooms, which makes it even less "worth the risk".
Of course, you also want to be careful of worms, as this article discusses, though last year I did see Gary pick one off the ground and taste it raw. Of course, he knows what he's doing, and I wouldn't dare try that myself! lol
BTW, once again I'm really glad I came across you. Perhaps we'll meet up one of these days and see what we can uncover together in Central Park! In fact, Gary said he's gonna try returning this weekend or the next, because it seemed many mushrooms were flushing a bit late this year.
"Copycats" works just fine - and absolutely there are some mushrooms that are pretty safe options to begin hunting for eating purposes - and if I ever eat anything, it usually falls into one of those limited varieties. (Which, actually aren't even that limited)
Gary nibbling on a raw mushroom - even a very dangerous one - would be fine as long as he spit it out - at least as far as mycotoxins are concerned. Of course, putting anything just laying around central park in you mouth is a whole other concern...
It's great that we've connected - and it seems like there's a growing interest in mycology on steemit and it's nice to help speed that transition along. I would love to go for a real hunt with NYCMS - I'm going to be workign next Saturday unfortunately, but I might could go on Sunday. Let me know if they set out again.
Seems like they tend to go on Sundays. I've generally been so busy myself though, it's been tough to go out nearly as much as I'd like, so I know perfectly well where you're coming from! I don't think he spit it out, but again he knows what he's doing, and I suppose he's also built up a tolerance over the years. Either way, that little bit wouldn't really hurt you anyone (short of being one of the nasty variety).
Ironically, I actually read somewhere that the white mushrooms you buy in the grocery store are actually higher in hydrazine than most! While a few raw ones won't hurt you, if you plan to eat a bunch of them, it's probably better to cook 'em up for a few minutes at least. Hydrazine is pretty volatile, and will quickly evaporate out once you stir-fry 'em up!
Maybe it was this article: A few reasons to cook the mushrooms you eat